Shingle



Nov. 24, 1953, H. ABRAHAM 2,660,135

' SHINGLE Filed Jan. 10 1950 I 4 {2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. MaeganAERAHI/IM Nov. 24, 1953 H. ABRAHAM SHINGLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.10, 1950 INVENTOR.

M M f Patented Nov. 24, 1953 SHINGLE Herbert Abraham, New York, N. Y.,assignor to The Ruberoid 00., New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application January 10, 1950, Serial No. 137,749

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a shingle, particularly to a flexibleinterlocking shingle of com position roofing, commonly known as anasphalt shingle, of the type that when laid in courses with likeshingles produces a covering of at least two thicknesses of materialhaving T-shaped exposure patterns.

Examples of shingles of that type are disclosed in my Patent No.2,444,623 and Killingsworth Patent No. 2,460,535. The minimum quantityofmaterial required to cover a square, that is 100 square feet of roofarea, with any shingles of that type that have heretofore been proposedhas been not less than 250 square feet. With shingles of the form andproportions of my improved shingle I have been able to attain thedesired result with use of only from about 233% to 239 square feet ofmaterial, depending on whether the shingle is out with a straight upperedge,-as in Fig. l, or with a projection along the major portion of theupper edge, as in Fig. 4.

Two important factors, among others, that enter into the economicalmanufacture and use of the shingles are: First the amount of wasteentailed in cutting the shingles from a web or sheet of material; andsecond the amount of material required to cover a square of roof area.The present invention results in effecting a substantial saving in thesefactors with the result that the shingle are cheaper to manufacture, andmore economical to use than others of the like type. The principalobjects of the present invention are to provide an improved shingle ofthe T- type:

1. That produces a watertight covering of at least two thicknesses atall points of the roof with a minimum amount of shingle material persquare; and,

2. That, when laid in interlocked relation with like shingles, i highlyresistant to raising of the butt by wind pressure.

The invention will appear more fully from the following descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

. Fig. 1 is a plan or face view of one form of the improved shingle;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a web of roofing material showing howthe shingles may be out without waste;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of a roof covering formed with theshingles; and,

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modified form of the shingle.

The shingle III has a head portion l I cut out at Gael-1 u p r ems ttone a is! is e side, and a middle portion l3 having substantiallysigmoid or S-shaped side edges l4 each of which comprises an inclinedportion that terminates in reversely curved ends. On reference to Fig. 1it will be seen, as indicated at Z, that the upper curved ends are outof alignment with and offset lateraily from the lower curved ends, forthe purpose hereinafter stated. The inclined pertions of the 'side edgesdiverge from the head towards the butt of the shingle, and the curvatureof the ends of said edges is semi-circular. The lower curved ends of theside edges define mailing tabs l5 through the center of which the nails2| (see Fig. 3) that fasten the shingle to the roof are driven. Theinner ends [6 of the nailing tabs where'they meet the shoulders H areslit vertically a shortdistance to allow for the thickness of theshingle material when one shingle is interlocked with another. The shankportion [8 of the shingle is formed with looking tabs 1 9 at its loweror butt end, each of which tabs preferably has an inclined upper edge asshown.

1 The shingles 10 are of such shape that they may be cut from a sheet 20without waste, as shown in Fig. 2. This in itself is not claimed as anovel feature as I am well aware of the fact that shingle having suchrelationship are old in the art;

The modified form of shingle l0, illustrated in Fig. 4, may be cut inthe like manner but with a slight amount of waste due to the provisionof the projection'zz along its upper edge, which waste amounts to about/2% of the gross area of material from which the shingle is cut. Incutting the modified form of shingle, the waste occurs along the twolongitudinal edgesof the sheet, a narrow rectangular portion being cutfrom the sheets at the ends of the butts of alternate shingles.

The shingles are coated with asphalt an usually faced with mineralparticles or granules. It is desirable that the butt edge of the shinglebe clean-cut and free from granules. On referring toFig. 2 it will beseen that the butts of alternate shingles along the medial longitudinalline of cut will be cleanly cut and free from granules, but due to thefact that the coating and granules may spill over the two outer edges ofthe sheet there is a possibility that some granules may adhere to thebutts of alternate shingles that have their butts along said edges ofthe sheet. That objection may be avoided by forming the shingle with aprojection 22 along the .top edge of the head, and cutting the shingles3 from the sheet with slight waste of material as hereinabove described.

I have found that to obtain the maximum amount of double coverage withthe minimum amount of material the height of the shingle should be notless than 3X+Y, where X, as indicated on Fig. 1, is the height of theshank portion l8 and Y is the depth from the top edge to which thematerial is cut out from each upper corner of the head portion II. Theshingles are preferably cut to have an overall size of 20" x 20", thatis the extreme width and the extreme height each being 20", however inthe case of the modiv fiecl form of the shingle the height maybeincreased /4" or A. With T-shaped shingles of these dimensions thedistance X is 6" and the distance Y is 2" to 2%". When laid'they formT-shaped exposure patterns of 120 sq. in. area,.

and require 120 shingles to cover a square of roof surface. v

The shingles are laid in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3, that is'withthe shingles of each course fastened by two nails 2i that pass throughapproximately the center of the nailing tabs I5. The locking tabs 3 ofthe shingles of each succeeding course are slipped under the shouldersI! of .two adjacent shingles of the course below and with the crotch ofthe tabs of the one shingle engaged with and caught in the slits orlocking points 1630f the other shingles. The fact that the upper ends ofthe sideportions [4 are offset laterally with respect to the lower endsprovides sufiicient lap adjacent said upper ends to pre- 'vent leakage.

The major portion of each exposure area T is ,co.vered,as at A, with twothicknesses of material; the portions at the bottom and'sides of theexposure pattern, indicated by the reference character '13, are coveredwith three thicknesses; and, the'portions C above the shank and at thelocking tabs are each coveredwith four thicknesses. The percentages'ofdifferent thicknesses of covering material at the several portions are,approximatelytwo thicknesses 73%, three thicknesses 19%, and fourthicknesses 8%. V V I.t' isto be noted that the ends of the butt of theexposure pattern, also the top and bottom ends of the narrow or shankportion of the T- shaped pattern are slightly elevated, each beingsupported by four thicknesses of material. Accordingly any wind, underthe pressure of high wind velocities, that may enter under the butt canescape along the sides of the shank, and consequently the likelihood ofthe butt or' shank portion of the shingle being raised so as to becomedisconnected from the adjacent shingles, or to tear loose, under windsof high velocity is measurably decreased. Tests'made have shown that'theshingles will withstand wind velocities of '75 miles per hour, andhigher, without causing the butts to raise sufiiciently to disengage thelocking tabs.

It will be seen on reference to Fig. 3 that the locking points 16 andthenails 2| are substantially in horizontal alignment with one another.

This serves to eifect a more secure interlocking relationship of theshingles than where th nails are driven into the shingles at pointsabove that at which the shingles of one course interlock with those ofthe course below. Moreover, it is to be noted that the semi-circularconfiguration of the nailing tabs l5 provides for at least a uniformdistribution of material about the nails 2|, thus minimizing the dangerof the tabs being torn by the effect of high winds.

Various modifications in detail may be made within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. An interlocking flexible shingle that when laid in courses with likeshingles provides a covering of at least two thicknesses of materialthroughout having T-shaped exposure patterns, said shingle having a headportion having cutouts in the corners of its upper end, a middleportion, and a shank portion having locking tabs at its butt end andshoulders at its upper end, said middle portion having downwardlydiverging inclined side edges that terminate in reversely curved ends ofsemi-circular curvature the lower curved portions of which definenailing tabs through which the nails that fasten the shingles aredriven, the upper curved ends each being offset laterally outward withrespect to its correlative lower curved end, the inner ends of saidlower curvedportions at their junction with said shoulders of the shankportion forming locking points with which the locking tabs of theshingles of the next upper course may be engaged and interlocked, theheight of the shingle being 3X+Y in which X represents the height of theshank portion and Y the depth of the cut-outs in the u per ends of thehead portion.

2. An interlocking shingle that when laid in courses with like shinglesprovides a covering of at least two thicknesses of material throughouthaving T-shaped exposure patterns, said shingle comprising asubstantially rectangular head portion having similar cut-out in each ofits upper corners to provide a laterally projecting tab at both sides ofthe head portion, an intermediate portion having substantially sigmoidshaped sides, the upper end of each of said sides being offset'laterallyoutward with respect to its lower end, and a shank portion havinglocking tabs at its butt end and shoulders at its upper end, the heightof the shingle being 3X+Y in which X represents the height of the shankportion and Y the, depth joffthe cut-outs in the upper ends of the headportion, the inner ends of said lower curved portions at their junctionwith said shoulders of the shank portion forming locking points withwhich the locking tabs of the shingles of thenextupper course may beengaged and interlocked."

HERBERT ABRAHAM.

References Cited in the file of this patent

